Ride the Wind
by Timbit the Lynx-Angel
Summary: *Takes place between Puss in Boots and Shrek* Puss and Kitty are traveling around, looking for something to do. What happens when they run into a stranger? What adventures or troubles will he drag the two lovers into? And how will this new journey affect their relationship?
1. The Beginning

It was a very hot day – the sun shone mercilessly down on the landscape and the wind wasn't the blowing at its greatest. Two felines walked through the dry landscape towards the nearby town. The two had been wandering around Mexico, looking for adventure for a few days now. The female cat was named Kitty Softpaws, a black and white tuxedo cat with sparkly blue eyes. She wore a pair of brown boots and a belt with an eye-like buckle. The male cat on the other hand was a ginger, wearing a pair of big black boots, a black belt with a golden buckle and a big black hat with a fluffy, yellow feather on top. Both of them wielded an epee and both knew how to wield and use them.

The two felines soon came to the little town. It consisted of a dozen of buildings and seemingly it wasn't that much of a busy town – there were very, very few people in the streets and those that were, didn't seem to be too welcoming.

"Maybe we shouldn't stay here for too long," Kitty suggested as the two felines walked through the town. Suddenly they saw a saloon, called 'el Sol Naciente' - the Rising Sun - up ahead. It would be nice with something to drink. It had been quite a while since the last time the two had had anything to drink – almost an entire day.

"I can only agree," Puss told his girlfriend as the two made their way through the saloon door. As soon as they entered, everyone in the saloon froze and stared at them – even the guitarist in the corner stopped playing. It wasn't a bad thing – no, Puss was actually quite famous, mostly for having saved his hometown San Richardo from destruction. Before that, Puss gone through a lot – he had changed from a hero to an outlaw, then back to a hero again.

Kitty on the other hand had been a street-savvy for the majority of her life. She had once been an ally of a man who wanted revenge against Puss, but eventually she had both fallen for and joined forces with Puss. Now it was only the two of them and wherever they went.

Puss looked around the saloon for a moment. Some of the men in the saloon seemed to be whispering various stuff and looking at the two cats with very impressed facial expressions. Suppressing a little smile, Puss walked up to the bar and jumped onto a chair along with Kitty. Puss took off his big hat and rested it under his left arm and ordered two glasses of milk for the two.

"May I ask where you are headed to, Señor Puss?" the bartender asked Puss once he had served the two cats their glasses of milk.

"Nowhere in particular," Puss replied and took a sip of his drink. Suddenly the door to the saloon opened again. Puss and Kitty didn't turn around to see who had entered, but the two could clearly hear the other people in the saloon whisper various things – far more than when he and Kitty had entered.

"You're him, right?" a deep voice asked Puss. Puss turned his head and looked at the man who was now seated beside him. He was tall and wore a big cape and a big hat, which covered his body entirely, so Puss wasn't able to see his face, let alone any parts of his body. Puss had a bad feeling about this stranger and didn't quite feel like he should trust him.

"Depends on who you're referring to," Puss replied and looked over at Kitty out of the corner of his eye. She didn't seem to trust the stranger either and she sent him a look of warning.

"Puss in Boots, right?" the stranger replied, sounding somewhat sneaky, as if he was suppressing laughter or something. Puss sensed this and moved his right paw downwards towards his epee, ready to draw it in case this stranger was going to try anything. Kitty saw this and did the same, but the stranger noticed as well. "My, my, going straight to the sword fight, hmm?"

Suddenly the stranger got to his feet and drew an epee in one quick motion. Puss and Kitty both jumped off their chairs and elegantly landed on the saloon's floor. The two cats drew their epees and took on defensive poses as the stranger pointed his epee at them in an offensive pose. The stranger seemed to be somewhat awkward in the way he stood, as if he was struggling to stand upright... also, his elbows looked somewhat strange to Puss – they seemed thicker than the strangers arms themselves and the joint seemed somewhat out of place.

Suddenly the stranger jumped forwards, swinging his epee towards Puss. Puss blocked the attack with ease and along with Kitty he jumped forwards to attack, swinging his epee towards the stranger's torso, which he just barely managed to dodge.

"Who are you?" Puss asked. The stranger stumbled backwards, eventually regaining his balance, then pounced forwards with his epee in front of him, trying to impale Puss. Puss jumped backwards, almost making the stranger fall over. The stranger stumbled backwards once again, then supported himself by a table.

"Don't worry, you'll see, very soon," the stranger replied in his dark voice. "It's more about what you've been doing with Sierra."

"We don't know any…" Kitty stopped herself mid-sentence and looked at Puss with a stern, somewhat annoyed face, once she realized what the stranger was talking about.

"… Oh, Sierra… how is she…?" Puss asked, not helping the awkward sphere there was between him at Kitty. At this the stranger charged forwards with an angry growl. The stranger slashed after the two cats with his epee. Puss and Kitty blocked all of the stranger's attacks easily, due to his awkward way of moving. Maybe he was old; maybe it was an unfair battle? It made Puss slightly hesitate, but suddenly Kitty accidentally slashed the stranger's leg. The slash usually would have made anyone scream or at least flinch in pain, but the stranger hardly seemed to have noticed it.

Unexpectedly the stranger suddenly kicked Kitty away as if she was some little pebble. She flew off and landed on top of a table, which broke due to the speed of her impact. The stranger finally turned to Puss and went all out on him. The stranger slashed at least three times a second and Puss couldn't even get to attack for himself – only block. The two continued the fight, but Puss started moving towards the exit, gracefully jumping over tables, chairs and whatever else was in the way and still managed to counter each and every move his foe made.

Suddenly a dash of black fur entered the scene and hit the body of the stranger and caused him to fall onto a table. The stranger caused the table to turn over and soon he had caused two tables to break as well as gotten some drinks from the tables onto himself.

"That's what you get for using me as a dummy," Kitty said and brushed off the dust and splinters in her fur. But still the stranger somehow managed to get to his feet after a few seconds. Somehow his limbs seemed to be broken or at least severely damaged, but suddenly something seemed to escape the stranger, and suddenly he seemed to be falling asleep or something… as if his mind and soul had left his body somehow… maybe that was what had dashed past them a second ago. No, he was probably just knocked out due to falling onto two tables.

Puss looked at Kitty in question when the stranger didn't attack them again, but before they could do anything, the door to the saloon was opened and someone else jumped onto the stranger that had attacked the two cats. The two strangers fell onto another table, which also broke and the sound of wood being destroyed and hitting other wood was heard. There was silent in the entire saloon for a few seconds. Puss looked over at Kitty. What had just happened? Suddenly the pile of wood and fabrics started moving and there stood a third cat.

He was a little shorter than Puss and Kitty and he was a bluish gray tabby, having darker gray stripes all over and he had clear sky blue eyes. Unlike Puss and Kitty he didn't wear anything, which was appropriate for a cat though. After he had brushed the dust and splinters off his fur, he turned towards the couple. "Hello, you two must be Puss in Boots and Kitty Softpaws, right?"

"Yes, that's us," Puss replied, looked over at Kitty out of the corner of his eye, looking somewhat suspicious. "Who are you? And more importantly, how do you know Sierra?"

"The name is Enrique G. Ride," the gray tabby introduced himself. Puss and Kitty both noticed that he didn't appear to have much of a Spanish accent, even when speaking Spanish. Maybe he came from another country with an accent-less language. "And I don't really know any Sierra… I just made that up."

Once again there seemed to appear a very awkward sphere around Puss and Kitty, and even Enrique could sense it.

"Eh… What happened to that guy?" Puss asked in an avoiding tone and pointed his epee at the cape and the big hat amongst the broken tables.

"Who? Oh him!" Enrique said once he realized that Puss was talking about the stranger. "He was just a fake."

"A fake?" Kitty asked with a raised eyebrow, not seemingly believing the strange cat. How could a person be a fake?

_"Yes, a fake indeed,"_ Enrique said in a far darker voice and held up the fabrics to reveal that everything that held it together, was some long pieces of wood. Puss figured that Enrique in some way had been able to balance on the pieces that had boots attached to them and at the same time used the ones in the coat-arms as lower arms. It also turned out that the epee was actually attached to the fake arm with a rope.

Puss and Kitty couldn't help but seem impressed. Enrique alone had pulled off this big prank. But why? What was it that made a person want to do that? Eventually they asked him.

"Good you ask," Enrique said and tossed the fake person aside. "I wanted to impress you."

"Why would you want to impress us by beating yourself?" Puss asked confused. Eventually Enrique explained. It turned out that he had a similar lifestyle to that of Puss and Kitty and wanted the three of them to join forces. Enrique also explained how he had mastered the skill of imitating nearly anyone and how he had been helping people in a way similar to how Puss had in his past. But how much man were you when you could only demonstrate beating a disguise, Puss thought.

"Sorry, but we don't really need any help," Kitty told Enrique. Puss agreed with a firm nod, which caused Enrique's ears to drop a bit and his face to turn to one that was somewhat annoyed.

_"Are you sure?"_ Enrique suddenly asked, imitating Kitty's voice perfectly. Somehow he had already been able to read and learn the high and low notes of her voice. Accidentally Kitty couldn't help but gasp in surprise at the fact that she heard her own voice escape the mouth of a tom like Enrique.

"… Yes, we are," Puss replied. He could clearly tell that Enrique wouldn't just give up like that and told Kitty to wait for him outside. Puss then returned to Enrique, took off his hat and placed it under his chin. What was to come was Puss' 'cute kitten face'. Most times it would certainly help Puss convince someone to do something for him and most people's initial reaction would be something along the lines of "Awww...!" but Enrique's was vastly different and unexpected. The gray tabby simply sat down and did exactly the same and stared Puss deep in the eyes as his own irises seemed to expand and almost fill out his entire eyes, just like Puss'.

"Stay…" Puss whispered in a hypnotic way, hoping that it would get Enrique to stay as he and Kitty left. Enrique did stay, but he kept up the kitten eyes. Shockingly Puss noticed that he couldn't look away either. Since none of them were able to look away, captured by the kitten eyes of one another, a few minutes passed by.

"Puss, what's taking…? Oh…" Kitty stopped herself once she saw what her boyfriend was doing. She was a little surprised at the fact that someone was actually able to resist the face that Puss made (He had used it on her several times to get what he wanted), even _she_ could not stand for it.

"I… can't stop…" Puss managed to say as he kept staring into Enrique's kitten eyes. "… Help… me…"

"Boys…" Kitty sighed and rolled her eyes and started dragging Puss away by his tail, and even then did he and Enrique keep the eye contact. It was only once the two exited the salon that the hypnotic connection between the two cats was broken.

"Whew, that has never happened before," Puss sighed with relief as he put on his hat, once he was able to take on a normal face again. He was still somewhat shocked by the fact that he hadn't been able to stand for his own trick. Now he kind of understood how people felt when he did it to them.

"Which one? Having your own trick used on you or being tricked to admit something like… that?" Kitty asked with a raised eyebrow, not utterly impressed by what had happened moments ago.

"I'm sorry about that," Puss said, a little embarrassed. He could clearly tell that Kitty wasn't happy about it. Puss had been with many ladies (Cats), but it was different with Kitty – he had never felt he like he had truly loved any of the ladies he knew before he met Kitty. "Either way, let's just get going, before another weird person approaches us."

* * *

There you go, the first chapter... :) I just recently watched this movie for the first time (Yes, a little late, I know! ^^') and I just _had_ to write a fanfic about it. So, I hope you'll leave a review if you like it, or if you have any critique! ^^


	2. Harbor Chaos

"Fresh fish, fresh fish! Come closer, only three-ninety-nine!" Puss licked his lips as he watched the fish-seller from a distance. It would have been nice with a fish or two… just thinking about it made Puss' teeth water, even though he was already full. He snapped out of it once he found that his saliva started running down his chin. He quickly dried the saliva off with his paw in a cute manner.

Puss' cape swirled around him like a tornado of fabric as he and Kitty continued down the harbor. The two loved the fresh sea air, since it always reminded the two cats of fish. That being said, they hadn't come to the harbor to buy any fish – okay, actually they had, but they had chosen to eat at a harbor restaurant instead. But the temptation to buy some fish was hard to fight off, but the fact that they wouldn't be able to last long before they'd start rotting.

"What do you say we go sail by the sunset later, my love?" Puss asked Kitty in his most charming tone as the two passed by a lone rowing boat by the harbor. He sent his lover a smile and positioned his hat to a more tilted position. The two felines came to the city gate with the name 'Port Dorado' written at the top.

"Oh… I don't know... Would you be rowing the boat?" Kitty asked teasingly. Puss laughed at her question and looked towards the sea again and saw a lone fisherman by the harbor. He had a stand for the fish he had caught… maybe Puss should… Yes, why not? He could eat it on the way out, right?

"Excuse me Señor, how much?" Puss asked the fisherman. The fisherman wore a brown jacket and a big hat, and with weather like this, Puss couldn't imagine how hot it would be with that outfit. Kitty on the other hand didn't care about that, but only rolled her eyes at Puss' 'need' to buy fish… not that she did mind at all.

"Only two Pesetas," the fisherman replied. It surprised Puss a little; these days, fish was usually a bit more expensive, especially ones as big as those this particular fisherman had caught. "Freshly caught… as you can see."

Suddenly the rod started moving and the fisherman quickly reeled in the line, but instead of a fish, all there was on it was a worm, which was bound to the line with a strong knot. Puss raised an eyebrow in confusion and looked at Kitty, who returned his look of confusion.

"Why'd you tell me to reel in?" the fisherman asked the worm annoyed in a half-whisper. "There's nothing on the line but you!"

"Whew, sorry, but I don't feel like getting eaten alive!" the worm replied in its high pitched voice. "What am I even doing here?"

"Hey, I don't pay you for questioning my way of working!" The fisherman tossed out the line again, very far out this time. At the same time, Puss and Kitty seemed to recognize his voice somehow. But where had they heard it before?

"Sorry, but do we know you?" Puss asked the fisherman in a suspicious tone.

"I'd say you do." The fisherman suddenly put down the fishing rod, attaching it to the chair he was sitting on. He then threw his clothes aside. Kitty and Puss partially covered their faces as they expected this person to be naked, but instead all there was, was… Enrique.

"You," Kitty said surprised when he realized that it was Enrique. "What are you doing here…? Wait, have you been stalking us?"

"Eh… yes, actually I have…" Enrique admitted, seemingly rather embarrassed. "BUT I have my reasons…"

"Other than the fact that you want to join us?" Puss asked and raised an eyebrow.

"…" For a short moment Enrique's mouth was opened, but no answer escaped. "No, then I don't… but…"

Suddenly some noise was heard from another part of the harbor. Puss quickly forgot about the fish and ran towards the noise along with Kitty. From the looks of it, it was a bunch of pirates, who were trying to steal from a couple of sellers, who had put up some stands on the harbor.

They were seemingly led by Captain Hook, a famed pirate captain. Puss and Kitty quickly drew their epees. Puss turned to Enrique. "If you want to help, you have the chance to prove yourself now."

"Yes! Don't worry, you won't regret it!" Enrique said excitedly and went over behind the stand where the fish that he had caught were. Puss and Kitty watched as he found some clothing items there and put them on.

First there was a black leather belt with a silver buckle. Instead of putting it on in a regular way, Enrique swung it around his waist and was somehow able to get the other end of the belt through the buckle and quickly fastened it with his one paw. Next Enrique put on a pair of boots, but unlike those of Puss and Kitty, these were slimmer and had a much darker black color. Lastly Enrique put on a pair of black gloves and a white scarf around his neck… Then he was ready for a battle. He turned to Puss and Kitty. "So, what do you think?"

"I think you've had a lot of time to plan this," Kitty said with a raised eyebrow.

"I just like planning early," Enrique said with a shrug and a smile. He then looked over at the pirates. "Maybe we should get going…"

"Si, let's!" Puss said and soon he and Kitty charged some of the crewmembers. They were all armed with sabers, which they drew once they saw the two armed felines.

Puss charged forwards and attacked the first crewmember with a rapid swing from his epee. Swinging it about, Puss managed to use his epee to disarm the first two first crewmembers, and Kitty also managed to disarm some crewmembers and also knock out a few too.

Kitty jumped forwards and blocked an incoming attack from one of the pirates and whipped her epee towards him and managed to eventually jump into the air and knock him out with a solid kick to the face. Once she landed, she was up against a few more pirates, but as she kept fighting them, she turned to Enrique, who was seemingly doing nothing but stand and smile. "Hey, if you wanted to join us, what about you actually join us?"

* * *

Enrique couldn't believe it: he was finally going to fight alongside Puss in Boots and Kitty Softpaws! He had been waiting for this moment, no; he'd been _living_ for this moment! Not able to contain his excitement, Enrique just stood there for a moment with a big grin on his face, snickering in a happy manner.

"Hey, if you wanted to join us, what about you actually join us?" Enrique snapped out of his jolliness for a second and realized that Puss and Kitty were already into the fight.

"Oh~… this is going to be great!" Enrique finally said happily he then walked over to the fishing rod. "Alright Anthony, here we…" When Enrique had finally reeled the line in, he realized that Anthony the worm was gone. Enrique quickly put down the fishing rod. "Oh… my bad… Nah, whatever, here _I_ go!"

Enrique charged some of the crewmembers, jumped forwards and since he didn't have a weapon, he had to do fist fighting… or rather paw fighting. The first pirate that came near was carrying a big bag, and he seemed to ignore Enrique, but as soon as Enrique planted his claws into his leg.

The pirate screamed in pain and dropped the heavy bag onto his own foot. As the other pirates realized that Enrique was a threat as well, they attacked him too. Enrique dodged a slash from a saber, then jumped forwards, punched the pirate in the stomach. The pirates also realized that Enrique punched harder than they would have thought. The pirate lost his saber and bowed forwards and grabbed his stomach to sustain the pain. Taking this opportunity, Enrique grabbed his lost saber and then jumped onto the pirate's head and ran along his back as he used the newly obtained saber to block the other sabers.

Enrique jumped off the pirates back and kicked one of the other pirates in the head. He then used the saber to fight against the pirates. Puss partially watched Enrique as he fought. He had to admit that the young tom was quite skilled; he had most likely been practicing a lot. Maybe he and Kitty _should_ let him join them… From the looks of it, he'd be a noble addition to their duo! But then again, Enrique's moves had the possibility of only being cosmetic – maybe he wasn't as strong as he seemed… this fight would show.

Enrique also seemed to be good with the saber as well, unlike Puss and Kitty, who used their epees. Enrique blocked a saber, then jumped and kicked another pirate in the chest. Then midair, he also managed to kick the pirate, even with his short cat-legs, his scarf swirling behind him like a short cape all the while.

"You're actually pretty good," Kitty told Enrique as she fought off another pirate. She swung her epee about, trying to disarm the pirate. Compared to his saber, her epee was merely a thin stick, but she was still able to keep up with him. Eventually she managed to disarm him of his saber, which fell to the ground.

Suddenly an Enrique came flying through the air and delivered a flying jump-kick to the pirate, who was sent backwards due to the force. "Thanks, I try my best."

"Where have you learned to fight like that?" Puss asked as he fought off a pirate near the others.

"I taught myself," Enrique replied proudly. Suddenly they noticed that Captain Hook and a few of the last pirates tried to board their ship in order to escape. The three cats followed them in order to stop them from stealing the few items they were carrying (The captain himself didn't carry anything).

The three cats ran as fast as they could, which was about evenly, and then jumped into the air, so that they eventually landed on the other side of the pirates, cutting them off from the ship.

"It ends here," Puss said and pointed his epee at the pirates. "Now hand over what you stole."

"Like I, Captain Hook, would surrender to three fuzz balls," the pirate captain growled and drew his own saber with his left hand (His right was missing, hence his name). Puss swung his epee upwards to block, then swung it forwards, trying to deliver an attack. Captain Hook obviously wasn't that good at fighting with his left hand yet, so Puss and Kitty had an advantage at that point. Suddenly Hook moved his own saber out of the way and caught Puss' epee with his hook. He then positioned it so that the epee's thin blade couldn't be drawn back by Puss.

Eventually the pirate captain managed to force the epee out of Puss paw and was about to slash him with his saber. But suddenly the pirate captain looked somewhat dizzy. Puss raised a suspicious eyebrow as the saber and his epee fell to the ground. Suddenly Captain Hook fell as well and Puss and Kitty just barely managed to jump aside as he landed flat on his face.

"See, not so difficult after all," Enrique said and swung a guitar around and let it rest on his shoulder. The guitar looked badly damaged and Puss' intuition told him that Enrique had used it to knock out the captain.

"Why do men always use guitars?" Kitty muttered and rolled her eyes as Puss picked up his epee, and the three cats pointed their epees at the remaining pirates (Enrique pointed the guitar at them).

* * *

"So now you see that I can only be suited for joining you?" Enrique asked as he, Puss and Kitty walked down the harbor. Granted, Kitty and even Puss had to admit that they were impressed by Enrique. Not only by the fact that he had been able to trick them twice, but also by his fighting skills. It actually did seem like all he had trained for was to join the two.

"Well, you could tag along and we could see how it plays…" Kitty was cut off when Enrique caught her in a hug and purred like a kitten.

"Yes, yes, yes! Thank you! I won't disappoint…!"

"If you don't want to disappoint us, you might want to let go," Kitty said in a stern tone of voice. "Too soon…"

"Sorry," Enrique said with a nervous chuckle. "I've just wanted to join you guys for a long time."

"May I ask why?" Puss asked as the three cats came to the end of the harbor. Ahead of them were only rocky landscapes and the nearest city or village was far away.

"Well, I've always been inspired by you guys, especially you Puss," Enrique said. Spontaneously he struck a fighting pose. "Now we can be heroes together!"

"Before we get to that," Puss started and brought Enrique into a more normal pose as some people passed by. "We have to know: what are your strong sides? Are you good with an epee?"

"Well…"

"Or are you good at being stealthy?" Kitty asked and moved Puss' hat a little backwards, so that it sat a little edgy on her. Puss put a paw on his head and realized that his girlfriend had just 'stolen' his hat.

"Yes, I'd say I am," Enrique replied and let a finger run along the shade of Puss' hat before Puss eventually took it back. "Actually… To be honest, I'm not… All I can really do is imitating people and what they do."

"So you're basically a literal copycat?" Puss asked and looked out at the sea. Great, now that Enrique was around, he and Kitty would have some difficulties with their… love life.

"Yes, that's what I am," Enrique replied. "I can't actually fight that good, but…"

"What are you talking about?" Kitty interrupted him. "That fighting against those pirates was pretty good."

"Thanks… But it was nothing special," Enrique said somewhat shyly. "I'm not as good at fighting as you guys are with your epees…"

"No, but you're still pretty good at fighting with your paws," Puss told him, which just seemed to make Enrique all the more happy. "But your other skills sure could come in handy someday…"

Puss and his companions kept walking for a while without speaking after that. Puss was still a little unsure of what he had gotten Kitty and himself into. Accepting a weird copycat of a stranger into their group would surely change a lot of things – now the two would have a harder time with their relationship and their more 'private' things and Puss and Kitty would also have to have Enrique along… which could be… interesting to say the least.

* * *

So, there's cahpter two, and I've finally gotten to upload something for once, lol. I hope you'll like it, and if you did, please stay tuned for more, see ya'! :D


	3. Turns for the Worst?

Puss, Kitty and Enrique walked into a saloon. It was pretty crowded with lots of men, and none of them evens seemed to notice the three cats when they entered. The three walked up to the counter and jumped onto a bar chair each. Puss quickly ordered some drinks for the three, then turned to the others.

"So, since you've basically been stalking us, is it with any purpose?" Puss asked Enrique as the three waited for their drinks.

"Well… yes, actually," Enrique replied, slightly hesitating for a moment.

"Then what is it?" Kitty asked, sounding a little impatient.

Enrique seemed to hesitate again as if he was almost afraid of asking. What was this, Puss thought. Was Enrique's request really as crazy as Puss slightly sensed? Or was it an impossible or especially hard mission? Either way, it would be nice with a new adventure for once – it had almost been too long.

"Well?" Puss asked and narrowed his eyes a little in an impatient way.

"Well… I wanted to ask you if you'd want to help me… with some water from a wishing well…" Enrique eventually finished. Puss and Kitty quickly looked at each other. Water from a wishing well?

"Hmm… why that particular type of water?" Puss asked, somewhat suspicious. Any water could do right? Besides, stealing water from a well like that was wrong. A wishing well didn't exist to provide the people with water – regular wells did.

"Because of what it can do," Enrique said, almost dreamingly. "It can grant any wish of whoever drinks it; fortune, wealth, food, fish…"

"Wait, are you telling us that this is something we're stealing for ourselves?" Puss asked suspiciously, lowering his ears a little and looked sternly at Enrique.

"No, no, no, it's so that we can give it to the people who need it," Enrique said dramatically, sounding like a storybook hero. "To the poor people who have nothing… me included." He added with a somewhat sly, yet innocent grin to Puss and Kitty, whose eyes turned to a more annoyed expression. "What? Don't look at me like that!"

"So it is just for you," Kitty said annoyed. She and Puss were about to leave, jumping off their chairs and onto the floor. But before they could leave, Enrique stopped them… with himself.

"No-no-no-no-no!" Enrique pleaded with his arms and legs clamped around Puss' body. Puss quickly looked around the bar, seeing people muttering various things and chuckling a little… how embarrassing.

Puss sighed deeply in annoyance and surrender, then grabbed Enrique and held him up in front of him, just like a little kitten, looked him straight in the eyes and said: "On two conditions; first of all, the water will be given to the people who need it only. Secondly, you never clung onto me like that in full public."

"Then in nonpublic?" Enrique joked with a nervous chuckle, but stopped when he saw Puss' stern face. "Okay, I take that as a no… but that means that you'll still help me, right?"

Puss sighed annoyed at Enrique's somewhat pathetic pleading. If Enrique's arguments for getting the water had been better right from the start, he wouldn't have had to clutch onto Puss like that… or plead for that matter.

Again Puss sighed as Enrique put on an innocent grin and let him drop to the ground. Enrique landed with a "Mew!" and Puss and Kitty sat back down on their chairs. Enrique got up and brushed the dust off of himself and jumped onto his chair as well. "But… that still mean that you'll help me… right?"

"Yes, sure," Kitty said annoyed. Puss was annoyed as well, even though he didn't quite want to show as much as Kitty did. This one task with the wishing well would show if Enrique was worth the trouble… if he wasn't, then he wasn't.

* * *

"Bien mis amigos!" Enrique said in an upbeat tone of voice as he Puss and Kitty exited the door of the saloon, which they had also stayed in for the night. The three cats had also eaten breakfast there – scrambled eggs with bacon – and now they were ready to head out… to wherever Enrique wanted them to head off to.

"Where are we going?" Kitty asked as the trio started walking through town, towards… well, they would get that answered in a moment.

"To a little town in the mountains… to the West," Enrique said and pointed towards where they were going.

"West is that way," Puss pointed out and pointed in the opposite direction. Puss sighed and Kitty rolled her eyes when Enrique immediately turned around and started walking the other way as if it was on purpose all along.

"As I said, to the west," Enrique continued as they walked the opposite way. "We're heading off to a little town called Los Dinero."

Los Dinero. Puss had heard of it before. Come to think of it, he had actually heard of something about a wishing well being near that town. The town was famous for the economical fall it had had a few years ago. What had happened was that the town had gotten its money from a nearby mine by digging out and selling the minerals – there were lots of various among these minerals. But suddenly the source of minerals had run dry, which had caused the town to fall into a gap of dept. and carrying quite a bit of money, Puss wasn't even sure if he wanted to go there.

"Los Dinero?" Kitty asked. "I've been there… about a year ago. It's not a nice town."

"Agreed, but we have to – the well is there." Puss could sense a bit of nervousness in Enrique's voice. Did he even know what he was getting himself into – or Puss and Kitty for that matter?

"So exactly what have you planned?" Puss asked determined. Puss was already sure he knew the answer though. "What do you have in mind?"

"Who knows," Enrique replied, much to Puss' expectations, very little to Kitty's.

"Wait, you haven't even planned anything?" she asked surprised. As a pose to Puss, Kitty had actually thought that Enrique had planned everything – the young tom seemed so secure and beat up…

"Nope," Enrique replied. "If you plan everything, the surprises won't be as big!"

What kind of logic was that, Puss thought. If it wasn't planned, it might as well get them killed in the process.

"I need to ask you something Enrique," Puss said somewhat spontaneously. Enrique just nodded in response. "Were you ever dropped on your head as a kitten?"

"Well, I fell on my head a few weeks ago, and I'm still a kitten, at least kind of, at least I'm kind of a kitty-cat," Enrique said, obviously not really getting it. "But no, not really."

Puss just raised an eyebrow and looked at Kitty. She did seem to find his question a little weird, but eventually just smiled at him.

The trio continued walking under the baking sun. Puss luckily had his big hat, but Kitty and Enrique had nothing. Puss noticed this and walked over to Kitty to offer his hat to her, so that she could shield herself from the sun. Pus put an arm around her should and was about to take off his hat, but when he closed his paw, his hat wasn't there.

Puss looked at Kitty – she didn't have it; he looked at Enrique – he didn't have it. Had the sun finally made him mad? A hat couldn't just disappear like that! Where the…? Puss looked back at Kitty and got an annoyed facial expression as he realized that she was wearing it. She just chuckled at his annoyed face.

Enrique was feeling pretty hot already – after all, he wore not only boots, but also a pair of gloves and a scarf. Eventually the gray tabby took off his scarf and held it above his head to shield himself from the sun.

Puss knew it would be a long way to walk, and the sooner they got to Los Dinero, the better; yet another reason to hurry up – at least for Puss. It was a long trip, which just reminded Puss of something at that very moment. "Enrique, have you remembered to bring some food and water?"

The gray tabby was carrying a bag, but Puss and Kitty had no idea whatever he had in it. Enrique stopped for a second, then seemed to think about it for a few seconds, which was rather painful for both Puss and Kitty as this could mean the worst... Eventually Enrique had to put down the bag and look through it. Puss sighed and started tapping his foot on the ground beneath him, feeling somewhat impatient.

"No, I have nothing at all," Enrique finally said. Puss felt as if his whiskers had just been ripped out of his face.

"Now, now, let's not panic," Enrique quickly said to protect himself. He quickly zipped over and hid behind Kitty. "I'm sure we'll find something edible along the way."

"Like what, cactuses?" Puss asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Maybe, I've never eaten those before," Enrique muttered, getting somewhat distracted by the thought. "Wait, I mean… we might come across someone who could help us."

"Out here?" Puss' eyebrow was still raised, if possible raised higher than before. There was absolutely no chance that the three cats would possibly meet anyone who would offer them food out here, let alone meet anyone.

"… now, now, don't be so pessimistic," Enrique said, annoying Puss even more.

"Come on, Puss," Kitty said. "We'll be fine. We always are, right?"

Puss sighed and muttered a reply none of the others could hear. Maybe Kitty was right – maybe it could turn for the better as the three went along… right?


End file.
